BA (Hons) English Language and Creative Writing

Do you want to combine creating original fiction with an in-depth study of the English language? Then this is the degree for you.

All Creative Writing students combine writing with study in another subject. You’ll be taught Creative Writing through lectures, readings, practices and discussion in regular tutor-led workshops by practising writers. The English Department has links with literature festivals and regular live literature nights. Students on the English Language and Creative Writing degree scheme become members of a thriving community, getting involved with the Writing Society, poetry nights, and spoken word events in the city. You’ll have the chance to develop your writing skills, cultivating a strong feel for words and their meaning within context.

The country’s largest Linguistics and English Language department delivers a programme consistently rated amongst the best in the world. You could be analysing sound patterns or learning more about the tones, nuances and registers of the English language. The two different focuses of this degree reinforce and complement each other perfectly.

In your first year you’ll study the core modules of English Language and Introduction to Creative Writing. You will build up a writing portfolio throughout the year, which counts towards your final mark, and you will have the opportunity to work in small groups to offer supportive constructive criticism on each other’s work. In the second year you’ll move on to Stylistics and Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop. You’ll also be able to select modules such as Discourse Analysis, Creative Non-Fiction: Genre and Practice and English Phonetics. We also offer a series of lectures on the business of being a writer. Your final year is made up of an Advanced Creative Writing Workshop and options such as a dissertation, Forensic Linguistics or Poetry and Experiment.

Many English Language graduates go on to work in education, publishing, the media and information technology. It is a subject highly valued in fields involving international communication, such as science, trade and international relations. Many employers also value the skills of project management, working to a brief and to deadlines developed through Creative Writing. As well as writing, this degree combination is particularly well-suited for careers in publishing, journalism, editing or PR.

Careers

Your degree encourages you to cultivate a highly creative approach to projects and fosters a keen sense of imagination. Developing skills such as these will allow you to contribute fresh new ideas in any career you choose.

Our English Language and Creative Writing degrees are of particular benefit if you wish to work in education, translation, information technology, management, the mass media, creative arts, social work and counselling.

Recent graduates have gone to work or train as speech therapists; teachers of English overseas; teachers of English as a mother tongue; computer programmers and consultants; bankers; chartered accountants; personnel managers; journalists; and social workers.

A sizeable proportion of our graduates take up employment overseas.